Cultural Backgrounds of Authors Used in A Stench of...

Cultural Backgrounds of Authors Used in A Stench of Kerosene and Veronica A Stench of Kerosene is a story about a young woman, Guleri (whose family live in Chamba), living with her husband, Okeke, and his family. Guleri has never borne Okeke a child, and because of this Okekes mother makes him re-marry. The remarriage of Okeke occurs when Guleri goes away to visit her family, for the harvest fair. When Guleri hears of Okekes new wife she soaks her clothes in Kerosene and kills herself. Veronica is also about a young woman, Veronica, who lives with her family, in a small village. In her village she has a friend called Manak. Manak leaves the village to go to the city and make a career,†¦show more content†¦As Guleri was a woman and she never had a child, boy or girl, Manaks mother thought this terrible. Guleris actions displeased her greatly and she had made a secret resolve that she would not let [Guleri go childless] beyond the eighth year of Manak and Guleris marriage. By burning her self (because Manaks mum made Manak marry again) Guleri was fo llowing what could have once been law in her village. Wives who didnt bear children or who only bore girls were burned, this is what Guleri did to herself. Like Guleri, Veronica had her place in the house, but in Veronicas case it was beneath her fathers fists. Veronica had to look after her family, her mum, dad, and her siblings. She had to work around the house powerless but dutiful towards her family. Both women felt a duty towards their families, probably due to the unconditional love that one gives to ones family, and also the feeling that their families needed them. When Guleri found that her husband didnt need her any more she killed herself, while Veronica lived just as long as she had her family, then when her siblings left her and her parents died she had her husband and child, then when they had all gone she let herself go; [She didnt] want to live. As I have said, men and women were expected to do things and act in certain ways. Women were expected to be emotionally weak. In A Stench of Kerosene at a